Monday, July 24, 2017

A PSA From OtakuDante

Taken from Twitter ...

I think the influence/reputation part of the PR biz is partially responsible for the declining state of the industry. The industry stalemate, as it were. The stalemate in question including all those bad business practices
that only seem to worsen through the complacency of the consumer. The truth is the industry itself as a whole will never change if we keep throwing our money so blindly at it. So, do your part. Speak with your wallet/purse, and become well informed about a game before buying into it. Game demos are the best option to do so with as are alphas and betas. Seeking out favored reviewer's or critic's opinions is also a decent alternative if you can trust the source. An even bigger tip for those reading this article is that if you see a famous streamer starting a gaming trend that would otherwise not be popular such as streaming bad games because they are bad be wary of it. I firmly believe such ideas are planted by businesses for the sake of
drawing you unknowingly into a cycle of paying blindly for things that people normally wouldn't buy ...The trend monster, thereof is being used against you to pad the pockets of
those who could care less about the quality of the gaming experience that you get for your hard earned money. Know this, and don't turn so readily to pop-culture streaming icons for honest gaming advice, because often times they are tied up with a contract for business purposes even if their goal doesn't seem to be to promote the game or product they received. Sometimes they act merely as a host body for the commercial-like reach that the PR is aiming for. By that I mean the thousands to millions of gamers simply viewing these videos, and taking the slightest hint of influence from them can result in sales that would otherwise have lost to disinterest. All because the game or product is hyped, or shown in such a light as to be memorable, and impressionable.

As far as the "trends" I spoke of earlier go I believe the streaming community's drive to be the first to stream indies, especially the bad ones was planted as a trending focus through outlets like Youtube for the sole purpose of better selling an otherwise poorly selling game genre. It could be said the streaming of obscure 'Triple A' titles were intentionally shown for the same effect. By making it popular it increases sales without much else in the way of promotional effort, because everyone wants to stream something different, or something noteworthy to gain an audience. Everybody wants to be the first to cash in view-wise on that undiscovered diamond in the rough. In a slight way it's kind of like what happened with Call of Duty, and the trolling trend. Through that often times sponsored trend Activision has sold many of the CoD games without gamers thinking twice about their purchase. All because of the community's seeking of popular streaming material. The only reason this trend is showing any signs of halting is due to certain popular free thinkers, and certain disgruntled Youtube CoD stars who have exposed the CoD crowd to the ugly truth. In that instance the trend was countered by another trend.

You can bet your bottom dollar that gaming businesses will go to any length to sell you product. They are not beyond playing with your mind commercial style, or selling you lesser quality games for more money. They are, at the end of the day, a business. As such you'll very rarely find anyone in the gaming industry who is in it purely for the love of game development. In their mind they are constantly looking for ways to convince you to buy what they are selling in a scheming get rich quick kind of way. Sometimes using dirty underhanded tricks, and other times blatantly asking for money from you so that you can keep enjoying more of the same. All of it is to hopefully get rich enough fast enough to continue making games that ask more, and more of you, financially. They hook you, and sometimes cheat you with your hobby addiction in mind on purpose. Those in the industry who have a monopoly on whatever game franchise it is you like know that they've got you hooked enough that even if they did you wrong you'd keep paying to play. They bank their all on that very thing.In closing I will say this ... bad business catches up with people. It may not be immediately evident, but eventually the truth will come out. The extent of the damage done thereafter depends on how long the bad business practices went on, and how much faith the consumer has lost in the industry, and industry providers. It's a dangerous game that industry providers are playing right now, and one that could easily ruin the future of gaming as we know it/knew it.

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